Primate Breeding Facilities

By: Samantha Joles

Monkeys at the Hendry County, Florida Breeding Facility

I. What are Primate Breeding Facilities?

Primate breeding facilities are sprinkled throughout the United States. These facilities span hundreds of acres and house thousands of monkeys to be bred and experimented on for medical research. Many of the facilities import wild monkeys from China and Vietnam to be bred in captivity and used for research.[i] Enclosures inside of these breeding facilities consist of concrete and wire and lack any elements of monkeys’ natural habitats such as plants and items for enrichment.[ii]

II. Governing law

A.  Animal Welfare Act

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was enacted in 1966 to protect animals from specific types of harms, and ensure humane treatment and care in research facilities, as well as in transportation and exhibition purposes.[iii] The Congress provided in their congressional statement of policy that the AWA’s regulation of such activities is necessary to eliminate burdens upon commerce and allow for effective regulation of animals used in research and other areas of commerce such as exhibition and transportation. The AWA established minimum standards of care, housing, and transport of animals held on the premises of animal dealers or laboratories, like primates.[iv] The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is responsible for the enforcement of the AWA. The USDA requires that primates are provided a physical environment sufficient to promote their psychological well-being.[v]

Under the AWA, any research facility subject to the AWA, that violates any provisions of the AWA may be held liable for a civil penalty of no more than $10,000 for each violation and may be ordered a cease and desist from continuing such violation by the Secretary.[vi] Each violation and each day wherein a violation continues shall be considered a separate offense.[vii]

B. Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) regulates captive wildlife, such as primates. The FWC provides that primates are a Class II Wildlife which is a list of species that are considered to present a real or potential threat to human safety.[viii] Individuals who wish to own Class II Wildlife must obtain a permit, which requires 1000 hours of experience working with the species in question, two letters of reference, and must pass a facility and caging inspection prior to the issuance of a permit.[ix]

Class II Wildlife must be housed in at least 1.5 acres which are owned or leased by the applicant.[x] The premises must contain a buffer zone of at least 35 feet between caged wildlife and the facility property line.[xi] Lastly, facilities must be bound by a fence at least 8 feet high, or 6 feet high with a 2-foot, 45-degree, inward angle overhang. Some primates are exempted from these facility requirements until they reach 12 months of age or exceed the adult weight of 14 pounds, depending on the species.[xii]

C.  Local Ordinances

Counties may enact local ordinances to regulate primate breeding facilities beyond the regulations provided at the federal and state level.  Hendry County, Florida, for example, has adopted Ordinance Number 91-05, which established and defined various types of zoning for agricultural purposes, and defines livestock animals.[xiii] Primate Products, and other companies breeding primates for profit or experimentation, may use the zoning of agricultural districts to bolster their claims that their facilities are simply taking advantage of agricultural land for an agricultural purpose.[xiv] Though, whether breeding primates for experimentation is an agricultural purpose is still up for debate.

III. Local Primate Breeding Facilities

The Florida Keys were previously home to primate breeding facilities in the 1970s and 1980s.[xv] It was believed that the water surrounding the keys would act as a natural, and cost-effective, barrier to prevent monkeys from escaping.[xvi] However, that was not the case. Monkeys escaped the facility and wreaked havoc on the Florida Keys, destroying federally protected mangroves and other vegetation.[xvii] Hence, when Primate Products was searching for a place to build their primate breeding facility, the Florida Keys were out of the question.

Instead, Hendry County, Florida became home to its own collection of primate breeding facilities. Hendry County has become home to four primate breeding facilities which house approximately 10,000 monkeys (about one monkey for every 4 Hendry County residents).[xviii] These Hendry County facilities import wild-caught monkeys to be bred and sold to companies and universities for experimentation, while also conducting their own experiments.[xix]

The next closest primate breeding facility is proposed to be built in Bainbridge, Georgia, though resident opposition may defeat the actual building proposal from coming to fruition. Safer Human Medicine plans to build a primate breeding warehouse with a capacity of 30,000 monkeys to be bred for experiments.[xx]

IV.  Help Stop Primate Breeding Facilities

To end the expansion of the primate breeding industry, contact the County Commission at issue and ask that they oppose such facilities. County Commissions may also adopt ordinances which provide stricter regulations of these facilities, or outlaw them overall. Those interested in preventing the expansion of primate breeding facilities may advocate for County ordinances that prevent the building of breeding facilities to successfully end the suffering of primates.

[i] Hendry County’s controversial monkey breeding industry, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, https://arff.org/hendry

[ii] Barbara Perez, Hendry County’s Best Kept Secret: Possible Legal Challenges to Non-Human Primate Breeding Facilities, 14 J. Animal & Nat. Resource L. 75 (2018)

[iii] Hendry County’s controversial monkey breeding industry, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, https://arff.org/hendry

[iv] 74 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 275 (Originally published in 2013)

[v] Barbara Perez, Hendry County’s Best Kept Secret: Possible Legal Challenges to Non-Human Primate Breeding Facilities, 14 J. Animal & Nat. Resource L. 75 (2018)

[vi] Id.

[vii] 7 U.S.C.A. § 2149 (West)

[viii] Id.

[ix] Class II Wildlife, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, https://myfwc.com/license/captive-wildlife/class-ii/

[x] Id.

[xi] Id.

[xii] Id.

[xiii] Id.

[xiv] Barbara Perez, Hendry County’s Best Kept Secret: Possible Legal Challenges to Non-Human Primate Breeding Facilities, 14 J. Animal & Nat. Resource L. 75 (2018)

[xv] Id.

[xvi] Id.

[xvii] Id.

[xviii] Charles River Laboratories, Inc., Petitioner v. Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, Respondent Curtis Kruer, Petitioner, 1997 WL 1052489

[xix] Barbara Perez, Hendry County’s Best Kept Secret: Possible Legal Challenges to Non-Human Primate Breeding Facilities, 14 J. Animal & Nat. Resource L. 75 (2018)

[xx] Id.

[xxi] Kitty Block & Sara Amundson, Proposed Monkey Warehouse in Georgia Would Be A Step Backward for Animals and Science, The Humane Society of the United States, Feb. 12, 2024, https://www.humanesociety.org/blog/monkey-breeding-facility-bainbridge-georgia-animal-testing